


I'll Be There

by bestthreemonths



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-07
Updated: 2015-09-07
Packaged: 2018-04-19 12:36:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4746695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bestthreemonths/pseuds/bestthreemonths
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For all the moments we'll never forget, there's more to the story for the main players. The story behind the story of a dangerous mistake made in a World Cup semifinal and a friendship that only gets stronger under pressure.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I'll Be There

**Author's Note:**

> So funny story. Someone asked if I would ever consider writing JJ/Hope, to which I was like "naaahhh..." but then the more I thought about it, the more important this one little story became to me. I hope you enjoy :)

Stop her.

That's all that is going through Julie Johnston's head when the German forward is making a run toward a ball headed straight for the box. Nobody else is around, and Julie knows this is it. It's all her.

But then, the whistle blows, and it's all her.

No way, she thinks. She couldn't have—could she? She looks around in disbelief, and what was once a welcoming crowd and a field full of some of her closest friends suddenly feels like an executioner's table.

She sees Cheney talking to the ref, but she had already pointed to the spot. The call had been made, and all Julie can do is look on in horror. She's going to throw up, she knows it. She can't breathe, her heart is pounding, her head feels like it's stuck underwater. She doesn't know how she gets to the outside of the box, where Ali is standing next to her, speaking in a calm voice to settle her racing heart and overflow of emotions.

Hope's jaw is clenched, and Julie is sure that can't be a good thing. She is delaying the kick as long as possible, and that's just what they need, Julie thinks, two yellow cards within two minutes. She wishes she would just get on with it, rip off the bandage instead of leaving Julie in agony, helpless and watching. You don't just save a penalty kick. You get lucky, maybe. But Julie's never found herself to be all that lucky. Good things have happened to her, definitely, but only as a result of hard work.

And all that work could go to waste because of one mistake. The worst mistake of her life. She would go down in history as the girl who blew it, handing Germany a free ticket to the World Cup final and letting down her entire team, especially her team within a team, the back five. They had worked so hard, and it seemed to be paying off. Until now.

They made a mistake picking her, she decides. Just because she was good on the U-23 team doesn't mean she could actually make it on the senior team. She's fooling herself if she thinks otherwise.  
Hope could have saved it, she thinks. Her worst mistake in history, and it all boils down to not trusting the greatest goalkeeper in the world to make a save. And now she's in a much more difficult position, and it's all Julie's fault.

And then, the shot goes wide, and every emotion in the book fills her. She is elated but still mortified and sick to her stomach. Becky smiles at her, telling her everything is fine, and Julie is grateful for it, but it feels like a lie. The team is celebrating, and Hope is headed straight to her.

Entering the senior team, she was admittedly intimidated by Hope. Everyone is at first. But Christie told her Hope's bark is worse than her bite, and she chose to believe it. If she hadn't, no way would she have been able to successfully play on Hope's back line.

When the starting defense became solid, Becky had initiated a team dinner, and Julie finally met Hope, the person. Hope the goalkeeper is intimidating because she's larger than life. Hope the human being is soft, she finds. And sweet. And funny. At their first dinner she had teased Ali about her relationship with Ashlyn, telling her they had to move GK practice inside because Ashlyn wouldn't stop staring at her. She had shared book recommendations with Becky and laughed at Kling's jokes. And most importantly, at least to Julie, she welcomed her.

Every question from Hope felt intentional and genuine, as if she put a lot of thought into how best to get to know a new person, especially a new defender. But it wasn't formulaic either. She actually listened to her answers, building a conversation around them. She seemed fascinated by even the least interesting things about her, and she talked very little about herself except to share similar experiences or relate in some way to what someone else was saying.

By the end of that dinner, Julie decided maybe Hope could even be her friend. The team is filled with mentors, especially Cap and Becky, and Julie thinks Hope could be one too, but she seems less willing to impose her experience—even when solicited—and more interested in treating Julie as an equal. There's not a moment of the evening where Julie feels a sense of being younger or lesser. Hope treats every member of her defense as equally integral to the equation, on and off the pitch.

After dinner, the girls had gone back to the hotel to hang out with the rest of the team. Group bonding didn't last long, as it was late and there was training in the morning. Ali had gone off to spend time alone with Ashlyn, and Becky and Kling were ready for bed, but Julie felt buzzed on adrenaline, and when Hope said she was going to put some time in the gym, Julie immediately jumped on the opportunity, surprising both herself and Hope.

Hope didn't really explain herself, but she shared a sheet Dawn and the goalkeeping coaches had prepared for her with a list of exercises she could do without risk of overtraining. Athletes sacrifice a ton for their craft, not the least of which is the ability to just turn their minds off while training. When Hope went to the gym, it wasn't to become a better goalkeeper, though it certainly didn't hurt, but to have some time to just shut off her brain. And on the first night, Julie went to spend more time with Hope, her personality so magnetic that Julie didn't want to break whatever magical connection was taking place.

But over time, Julie started going more for the gym and Hope started going to get closer to Julie. They'd do a light workout for an hour, pushing and cheering each other, then decompress, sitting or lying on the ground in a sweaty heap if they'd gotten too competitive and talking about everything under the sun. After games, they'd usually take ice baths with a group, but Julie still treasured that time.

For a while, it was just that, but eventually Julie was invited to sit with Hope and Carli at meals and in the back of the bus, an honor unlike any other, at least in her eyes. 

They knew they were an unlikely pair if you're looking from the outside in, but they just got each other somehow. Hope had been in Julie's shoes as one of the youngest on the team once upon a time. They were both in relationships with football players, something that took Hope longer to open about than Julie. Hope took to calling her "Jules," a nickname she'd had in the past, but on the team she's always been JJ. Hope, naturally, doesn't nickname people left and right. It felt nice having something that set her apart.

Before the World Cup, emotions were running high, and Hope didn't want to come to the gym, but Julie waited, deciding eventually to go to Hope's room and check in. "Sorry, I'm just not in the mood," Hope had said, but Julie reminded her that's exactly why she should go. Hope couldn't believe that she had the guts to call her bluff and had to admit she was right.

When they reached the gym, she went straight to the punching bag, only getting in a few hits before collapsing to the ground in tears. Julie wasn't sure what to do about Hope Solo, best goalkeeper in the world, in that situation, but she knew what to do for a friend. She dropped the medicine ball she had been using and rushed to Hope's side. Hope had resisted at first, wanting to be as far from anyone as possible, not even able to look Julie in the eye, but Julie wasn't deterred. She sat with her, just close enough that Hope felt her presence, and when she didn't get tired of sitting there in silence, Hope knew she could talk.

Finally she opened up about things Julie had only heard secondhand. She was thankful to hear it straight from her for once, and things started to make a lot more sense. She nodded and listened as Hope spilled, and Hope was grateful that she didn't try to put in her two cents, opting instead to understand. When she was done, Julie told her how lucky she felt to have Hope behind her on the pitch. She didn't address anything Hope shared, but she didn't have to. 

"You make me believe I can do anything," Julie had said. "And if I can't for some reason, you're right there to fix my mistakes. I'm so confident walking out there and hearing you behind me, staying calm but keeping us energized. That's why we're going to win it all."

It wasn't the first time this cycle Hope had heard someone—including herself—say that with confidence, but it was the first time she really believed it.

After the Sweden game, Julie felt herself getting weirdly jealous of Kling and the way Hope gushed about her masterpiece of a goal-line save. It's not that she typically needs attention, but there's something about Hope's attention that Julie hasn't stopped craving since that first night, and suddenly Kling had it. But this is certainly not the way Julie had imagined getting it.

“No time for tears,” Carli says, patting her on the shoulder as she passes. “We’ve got a game to play.” Julie nods, sniffling and trying to steady her breath.

When Hope reaches Julie, she puts her hands on her shoulders. “Hey,” she says. “No crying. It’s over.” Of course, that only makes her cry harder. “Listen,” Hope says. “We’re in a good place. We’re fine. You’re fine, Jules.” The nickname does it. Julie takes a deep breath and nods. “I was getting bored anyway,” Hope says with a wink, and Julie laughs. “That’s better,” she says. “I need you. The game isn’t over. Your job isn’t over. You are the Julie Johnston. You being here? That’s no mistake. I need all four of you. Will you be there?”

Julie nods, wiping her tears. “Okay,” she says. “I’ll be there.”

After that, it’s not a question of if Julie is going to let it get to her. The thought doesn’t cross her mind even briefly for the next 30 minutes. It’s kind of poetic in a way that she gets the last touch to clear the ball down the field, but by the time the final whistle blows, it’s all about Kelley, who completely deserves every bit of her celebration, and Julie is grateful to have the attention off her. Hope hugs her quickly, but doesn’t stick around, and—oh, Julie realizes. Her pep talk earlier was just so she would get her head in the game. Hope isn’t happy. And she shouldn’t be, Julie thinks. She let her down.

When she gets to the press, it all finally catches up with her, and she escapes after just one interview to the locker room, where she tries to catch her breath. Christie catches up not long after, giving her a long, motherly hug. “You’re brave,” she says. “You played your heart out after the most heart-shattering thing. I’m proud of you, but we still have one more game. You can’t think about it anymore.” Julie nods, fighting the tears threatening to spill. “It’s okay to cry,” she says. “But it’s also okay to celebrate. We didn’t win in spite of you. You are a huge part of that win, and you should be proud.” Julie nods again quickly as the rest of the team pours in, screaming and celebrating.

Hope is smiling when she walks into the locker room, but she's considerably more subdued than the rest. Julie tries to partake in the celebration, but so much of her just wants the day to be over, to get back to the hotel, to see her family and get a bear hug from Zach. She's one of the first on the bus, sitting by Becky, Moe, and Kling. Hope looks at her as she passes by, but Julie pretends to be enraptured in conversation with them.

Back at the hotel, there are fans everywhere, and they are forced to rush past, only signing a few autographs and giving a few high fives. Once inside, Julie feels the biggest relief seeing her parents and Zach. She runs to them, jumping in Zach's arms. "I'm so proud of you, Jules," he says, and she thinks about Hope saying it, which almost makes her cringe. She hugs her family and kisses Zach quickly before excusing herself to shower. She knows it's time to let loose, but she kind of wants to be alone.

She's just turned on the shower to let it warm up when there's a knock at the door. Strange, because Alyssa is usually the one saving Julie's ass when she forgets the key (which is always). But when she opens the door, it's Hope standing there.

"Hey," Hope says, strolling in as if nothing's amiss. "Are you avoiding me?"

"No," Julie says, not even convincing herself. "I'm just tired."

"So am I," Hope says. "But we also just won our World Cup semifinal, so these things can be overcome."

"Right," Julie says. "I just-- I'm sorry for letting you down."

"Are you kidding?" Hope says, and it's not a rhetorical question. 

"No," Julie says again.

"Jules, you could never let me down," she says. "Actually, I take that back. You could have let me down if you had given up on yourself when things got hard. But I've never seen a center back play that hard in my life. You killed it."

"But..." Julie starts.

"That could have happened to anyone," Hope says. "It wasn't a rookie mistake, it was a scoreless World Cup semifinal, 'an attacker is in the box and nobody else is' mistake. It was a mistake you made to protect me."

"But I didn't," Julie says. "I made it worse for you."

"And I handled it," Hope says. "I'm a big girl, Jules. I've been around the block a few times. I can take care of myself and this team. But the fact that you cared enough about me—about this team—to do whatever it took to stop that from happening? That's amazing. That's leadership. You put the team—you put me above yourself. You gave one hundred percent tonight, and I couldn't be more proud of you. None of us could. That's why I came up here. We were doing a toast to you, but you were gone."

Julie's eyes are filled with tears. "I could have ended it all," she says. "We could have lost."

"We were never going to lose," Hope says. "You saw Kelley. She was out there with a vengeance. If Alex hadn't gotten the PK for her, Carli would have gotten in the back of the net one way or another. You, Krieger, Becky, Kling, you played the game of your lives. That's what's going to win it all. I remember a time when you believed that too."

"I do believe it," Julie says.

"Good," Hope says. "Now act like it. Celebrate this win, but get ready to work your ass off for the final. We haven't won anything yet. As far as I'm concerned, I didn't almost get myself thrown out of a game so we could lose in the final. Are you prepared for that?"

"Yes," Julie says, with confidence this time.

"So tomorrow," Hope says. "Your pity party is over, and I'll see you in the gym at our usual time."

Julie takes a deep breath in, filling her lungs with the promise of a second chance from the only person whose approval she ever needed. "I'll be there."

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this! I had a 12-hour travel day today and I'm on the road for another week or so, so this has been my sanity throughout it all! If you've never read my other fic (shameless self promo is my middle name), [Fly on the Wall](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4553379/chapters/10365063), I like to do a little bit of comment prompting with questions (like a book club or something!), so if you want to answer them, feel free :) If you don't, I hope you'll leave some feedback anyway!
> 
> LAS PREGUNTAS (I just got back from Mexico, it's taking me a while to break the habit)  
> 1\. Favorite line? (This is a favorite question of mine)  
> 2\. If you were to see this from anyone else on the team's perspective (other than Hope or JJ), who would it be and why?  
> 3\. Favorite real life Hope/JJ moment? (If it's this one, that's okay, it was a pretty great one)
> 
> Thanks for reading, everyone! :)


End file.
